A new dawn

We're now in the brave new world of the Care Act 2014. The first of its two broad parts, relating to the provision of care, came in to force on 1 April 2015.
The second part which relates to how care is charged for comes into force in April 2016.

I have to be upfront; I am excited to have this legislation in place. No more referencing the National Assistance
Act 1948!

While I will miss having to refer to the snappily named 'Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide', or CRAG, there is a whole bank of statutory regulations and a 506 page Care and Support Statutory Guidance document to fill the void.

So what are the changes and what do we need to be on the lookout for?

As with all new legislation, we're not going to see where all the wrinkles are until we use the system for a while. However there are a few words and phrases that will start to find their way into the conversations of anyone dealing with the provision of care and support for adults, of which the main one will be 'wellbeing'.

Promoting and defining wellbeing

It's all about ensuring that any process, activity or broader responsibility that a local authority performs, is focused on the needs and goals of the person concerned.

The guidance refers to this as 'the wellbeing principle' and it has the effect of moving away from the existing duty on a local authority to provide particular services, to that of 'meeting needs'. Of course, everyone's needs will be unique to them.

Taking a leaf out of the Mental Capacity Act 2005's book, local authorities are expected to assume that the individual is best placed to judge their own wellbeing and to allow the individual's views, wishes, feelings and beliefs to be taken in to account (and not be downplayed or ignored).

This is entirely laudable and it's almost a shame that is has to be set out in an act of parliament. But as the system is under increasing financial pressure and with funding decreasing year-on-year, it is hardly surprising that a one size fits all (or even one size fits none) care provision has crept in.

Some of the other phrases that will find their way in to everyday use are 'market shaping', 'co-operation and integration', 'secondary prevention', 'minimum threshold for eligibility' and 'universal deferred payment scheme'.

It has been suggested that the eligibility bar for the single national minimum threshold is set too high, meaning that the aim of preventing, reducing or delaying needs can't in fact happen; only those who are most seriously in need of support will get help. This is a real concern as prioritising cheaper, early intervention services over long term services isn't going to happen without money being made available to support that approach.

Deferred payment scheme

The universal deferred payment scheme is now available throughout England. The idea is that deferred payment agreements (DPA) should prevent people from having to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for their care. There is an 'equity limit' that applies: value of property - 10 per cent - £14,250 - any encumbrance =
equity limit.

Once this has been reached the DPA can cease. It is also important to note that all DPAs are now subject to interest charges from the start, as they are intended to be cost neutral for the local authority.

I would recommend that all practitioners take a look at sections 34-36 of the Care Act, the Care and Support (Deferred Payment Agreements) Regulations 2014, and chapter nine of the guidance for more detail on the eligibility criteria and the equity limit.

I would also suggest that information on DPAs is shared with colleagues as well as clients.

You don't want to find that someone has advised a client that DPAs are interest free simply because they're not up to date with the changes. 

Sofia Tayton is a partner and head of care and capacity at Lodders Solicitors

She writes the regular in-practice article on care and capacity for Private Client Adviser